Further Psychometric Evaluation of the Child Disgust Scale

Abstract

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Child Disgust Scale (CDS) among 457 youth (ages 8–17, M=14.77±1.98 years) initiating residential treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a bifactor model with two distinct factors of Disgust Avoidance and Disgust Affect, in addition to an overall General Disgust factor. Strong internal consistency was observed for the CDS total and factor scores. In addition, CDS scores demonstrated generally modest and positive correlations with child-reported obsessive-compulsive and anxiety symptoms, weaker correlations with parent-reported anxiety and child-rated impairment, and non-significant correlations with parent-rated impairment. Findings suggest that the CDS displays strong psychometric properties and is developmentally appropriate for use in pediatric clinical populations with obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders.

Subjective approach towards welfare understanding in the dolphin assisted therapy: experiences of families in pilot research

“…In all the cases, a feeling of disgust was the least expressed while watching the tenth session. Nadeau et al, 2016) psychometric evaluation showed that the degree of experienced disgust may vary in the presence of aversive stimuli and is associated with experiencing anxiety. Therefore, it can be stated that Figure 5 pictures decrease of the parental stress when they observed the first and the tenth session.…”

Considering uncontaminated food as an early-emerging and previously ignored disgust elicitor.

“…In Study 1, a group of adults was surveyed about the items they and their children find disgusting. As we noted above, prior measures of disgust sensitivity for children were adapted from adult measures (Muris et al, 2012; Nadeau et al, 2017; Schienle & Schwab, 2019; Viar-Paxton et al, 2015), and theories of a mature theory of disgust focus on abstract concepts, rather than sensory properties (Rozin & Fallon, 1987; for a review, see Rottman et al, 2019). As such, these measures tend to omit questions about uncontaminated foods when examining disgust sensitivity.…”

“…The developmental antecedents of disgust (observed in children) are often considered to be immature steps preceding the adult state. For example, rather than eliciting responses from children regarding what they find to be disgusting, disgust sensitivity scales for children have typically been directly adapted from existing adult scales (Muris et al, 2012; Nadeau et al, 2017; Schienle & Schwab, 2019; Viar-Paxton et al, 2015), but without items that might be inappropriate for young children (e.g., those dealing with sexual behavior). In addition, theories of the development of disgust have often focused on the transition from concrete to abstract thinking (for a review, see Rottman et al, 2019).…”

“…Those dangerous items are considered part of the core disgust system that emerges early in development, documented by some as emerging as early as 2 years of age, and which persists across the life span (Rozin et al, 1999; Rozin & Fallon, 1987; Stevenson et al, 2010). Some core disgust elicitors are foods, but only if they are spoiled or contaminated in some way, as represented by scale items such as “a glass of spoiled milk” and “a pile of rotting lettuce” in the Disgust Emotion Scale for Children (Muris et al, 2012) or “if a dog licked my popsicle I would still eat it” and “I would still eat my soup if I saw a hair in it” in the Child Disgust Scale (Nadeau et al, 2017; Viar-Paxton et al, 2015). Disliked foods (with no signs of contamination or spoilage) have historically not been considered part of a mature disgust system.…”